Hope Springs EternalDespair Is Everlasting
by x-LoneStar-x
Summary: Would you say Harry is a hero? This story proves that some are more heroic than others, and perhaps Draco is more heroic than others.
1. Prologue: The Hero

Hello to all you people. I hope you enjoy my story, and I hope you could all find it in your hearts to click on that little button at the button and review this. I want to be a writer when I'm older, and take it very seriously, therefore, I need people to tell me whether I'm any good, and give me some tips, ideas, suggestions, anything, even if you want to flame me and tell me its crap, that's ok, just tell me your opinion. 

Life as a hobbit: my poem

Some people spend there life high up,

No need to try at all,

While others (like myself of course),

Are really rather small.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story, the talented j.k.rowling, (who doesn't give the main characters in this story a big part in her books). Of course she did let ginny nearly be killed, but she still wasn't a big character. Lets face it, in the film I'd be surprised if she said more than 4 lines. With that said, please continue to read my story. =D

Prologue: The hero?

Before I begin to tell you this story, you must wonder, is Harry Potter really such a big hero? Lets review. Harry Potter and the philosophers stone, Harry was getting involved because Voldermort was trying to regain power, and steal something from Hogwarts, also, he hated Snape, and while he thought he was trying to steal the stone, he was determined to not let him get it. Harry Potter and the chamber of secrets, if it had been someone else taken in to the chamber of secrets, and also if he hadn't been suspected of being the heir of slytherin, would he have gone into the chamber? Harry Potter and the prisoner of Azkaban, he got dragged into it really, if he didn't go into the tree, and the only reason he saved Sirius was because he was innocent and also because he was his godfather. Harry Potter and the goblet of fire, he was taken to voldermort, and he couldn't have saved Cedric so he had to save himself. Finally, in The Order Of the phoenix, he went to save his godfather, but ended up being the cause of his death. (soory to all you Harry fans, but its kinda true). It made all the die-hard HP fans wanna cry, also it really pissed me off that Harry was so selfish throughout the whole book. So now that you've got the insight on how Harry really is, let me ask you a question. Do you think he would save Pansy if she was in trouble? What about Draco? Would he save one of Harry's friends? Maybe hes not so bad after all.


	2. Chapter1:The summer

Hello all you people. If you noticed, there was a lil poem I wrote in the last chapter, its also my signature on my emails, and MY MUM STOLE IT!!! L Anyway, just wanted to get that off my chest, cause I'm very annoyed, although I'm glad she liked it.

Disclaimer: must I write this again? Just go to chapter 1 if you wanna see it. 

Chapter 1:The summer

Once again, Virginia Weasley was spending another summer gazing out of the window, at the sunset, wishing there was someone beside her watching it with her. She would often sit out in the balcony of her window, and stare at the moon for hours, deep in thought. Wishing that there was someone who would come behind her and wrap their arms around her to keep her warm. She never told anyone this, it was a bit too sentimental, and besides, who would she tell? She couldn't tell Ron, he was far too busy having his usual little adventures. Fred and George? Well, they were too busy playing pranks on her mother. She was getting very aggravated with the twins, and everyone stayed out of her way. An angry Molly Weasley was not a good thing. Percy was an outcast from his family, a rogue Weasley. Everyone knew he was keeping his distance, he was like a little dog, he would have licked Fudge's boots clean, if he didn't have a perfectly good spell to clean them already. There were so many problems at home, Ginny couldn't  talk to anyone, how was she supposed to manage. At least Percy had always had time for her. In some ways, she hated her family, why should they desert Percy just because he doesn't believe a word that Potter is saying. Why didn't she realize earlier? Harry would be here any day now. She had just about gotten o0ver him by now, she knew she would never have a chance, but she would always have a soft spot for him. Deep down, she had always known that she had never stood a chance with him, he could have just about any girl he wanted, why would he ever like her? Ginny wasn't exactly what you would call the prettiest (or the most popular) girl at school, but still she wasn't exactly bad either. She hoped someone would realize this one day, and put her out of her misery. She needed someone to talk to. What would she do without Pig? Yes, it may seem strange that she tells all her problems to Pig, but he was an extremely good listener, and had grown fond of Ginny over the years. He would perch on her shoulder as she sat on her balcony, gazing into space, wondering if she would ever find a guy who would like her for what she was. It may sound as if Ginny was a bit of an airhead, from what I've said, but she was in fact, far from it. She loved to sit and think for hours, questioning everything around her. She was an intelligent girl, and had a mind of her own. She wasn't the type that was addicted to fashion magazines, and spent her life buying beauty products. She was a caring person, thoughtful and sincere. 

 Ginny was interrupted from these thoughts, when a voice said "Ginny? You okay?"

Yes, it was Hermione, coming to check on her for the 100th time today. She wished she had more freedom, her own space, and not having to share a room with a girl who wasn't your friend, but your brothers. "Hey, Hermione, take a seat." She gestured towards a nearby chair. "Nah, that's ok. I just wanted to check on you, Ron was wondering if you wanted a game of chess?" Ginny smiled thoughtfully.

"No, that's okay, tell him I'll play later. Ok?" 

"Okay Gin. Let me know if you ever want to talk." With that she left the room, as Ginny let out a small sigh of relief. 


	3. Chapter 2:A new beginning

For Disclaimer, look on 1st chapter.  
  
Chapter 2- New Beginnings  
  
It wasn't that she disliked Hermione, in fact it was far from it, but she wished that she would stop checking up on her. Ron and Hermione were always doing this, asking her what's wrong, and whether she wanted to join them. Under normal circumstances, they would have told her to go away, and not notice if something was bothering her. Things had definitely changed. Before, she would have given anything to hang around with 'the dream team'. Now, she's reluctant to share her room with Hermione, and never wants to be around them. It was time to move on. She couldn't let this keep happening. She had to forget about everything that had happened, and make a new start. She needed to forget. Everything that had happened; the things she had gone through, Harry, Being left out, there was so much. How could she just forgive and forget? It was worth a try though. That was it! It was now decided, she was going to make more of an effort, now that they were. She would start again with the three of them. A new beginning. 


	4. Chapter 3:Purple Pancakes!

Ginny made her way down to the breakfast table, in a much better mood than she was the night before. She was a happier, perkier Ginny. She was different. As she moved the chair to sit down, she bumped into Harry. "Oh, sorry Harry. I  didn't mean to knock into you." 

"Hey, that's okay Ginny. I know you didn't mean to." He smiled warmly, then continued. "Ginny, would you like to come and play quiditch with me today? Up by the hills? I haven't played in ages, I need all the practice I can get."

"Sure Harry. I'd love to. What about Ron and Hermione? Are they coming as well?" He shrugged for a moment. "If you really want them to, I could ask them, but you know, Hermione isn't exactly the best player in the world. I think she can hold a broomstick now." This caused Ginny to laugh hysterically for a long while. Harry grinned watching the look of amusement on her face. "Okay Harry, after breakfast, the two of us will go down to the field and practice. But first, let's eat! I'm starving!"

"Mmmm! Yeah me too!" Just at that moment, Molly Weasley appeared carrying two plated, one full of sausages, bacon and eggs, the other with pancakes and a bowl of cereal. "This food looks delicious mum!"

They were soon joined by Fred and George, who were busy muttering to each other about new products and tests they would have to make for their joke shop. They had bought a shop, in hogsmeade, and they were preparing for when it opened in September. Ginny laughed as they put their latest invention on Ron's pancakes, he was making his way groggily downstairs, he wouldn't notice the light powder on his breakfast. The four of them sniggered as he took his first bite. "What's so funny?" he asked in a very demanding tone. 

"Oh… err… nothing Ron" Ginny answered angelically as his face started to go a brilliant shade of purple. As the other's were in hysterical laughter, and as Ron was sitting, puzzled, Hermione made her way downstairs. She looked over at Ron, and let out a piercing scream. 

Everyone jumped, and looked her way, as it came as a surprise when they saw her there. "Hermione? What's wrong?" Ron asked obviously concerned for his best friend. Fred and George came her pleading looks, as Ron began fussing over her. She remained silent, but then as Ron passed her a plate, and saw his reflection in it, it seemed as if the entire house was snorting, and laughing. Ron's purple face quickly turned to it's usual shade of red, as he turned towards the Weasley twins, who were laughing far more louder than the others. 

"We better get out of here" Harry whispered to Ginny "there's about to be trouble." With that, the two quickly darted upstairs, as the rest of the house rushed down to see what all the hullabaloo was about. 

Harry reached the top of the stairs first, laughing maniacally as he heard the screaming, laughter and shouting below him. Ginny soon caught up with him, laughing still as well. He was leaning against her now, he was laughing so hard he felt as if he were about to fall on the floor. She froze, and he stopped laughing, concerned. 

"Ginny?" He looked puzzled "What's wrong?" Before he had a chance to say anything else, she quickly ran past him (leaving him sprawled out across the floor) and slammed her bedroom door shut.

 "What was all that about?"

What had happened back there? Why did she react like that? Will Ron ever calm down? Will the Weasley twins get away with it again? Will Hermione admit who she's in love with? 

Find out in the next chapter!!!

PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE! R&R I haven't had any reviews for this story. And in my other story I've only had 3 (and 2 are from me). I really wish someone would review, even if it is to tell me I'm crap at writing or something. I'm getting no response from my writing, it makes me feel like I shouldn't even bother, it makes me feel really low, even though Christmas is coming up, I feel depressed. Everyone hates my stories, my mates are in a mood with me, and the guy I'm hopelessly in love with, has just let me down again, and that was the only thing that was going right in my life. SOMEBODY HELP ME!!!


	5. Chapter 4:The Boy Who Saved The Day

DISCLAIMER: LIKE I SAID, READ THE 1st CHAPTER IF YOU WANT TO SEE THIS.  
  
Hello to all my readers. I hope you will enjoy this chapter; I wrote it, then decided it wasn't good enough and started again, so here is the new version.  
  
I would like to say a huge thanks to everyone who has reviewed.  
  
DrEaMiNgOfDrAcO- thank you for your support. I agree- a cliffy does make it more interesting and I am glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for reviewing.  
  
Jazmine- Thank you. I'm glad you respect me for being able to receive criticism (Is that how you spell it?) thanks for reviewing.  
  
Amy- I'm glad you think reviewing is fun. Thanks for reviewing.  
  
Blackbow- Thank you. Your support (along with many other people as well) has helped me through my rough patch. Thanks for taking up my offer of being my beta reader, and I hope we can get to be good friends. Thanks for reviewing.  
  
Drookit duck- I'm glad someone agrees with my opinion of Harry, I  
mean, he does seem like a good guy, but since the books are about him  
being the big hero all the time, you would expect him to be nice.  
Thanks for reviewing.  
  
NOW...  
On with the story  
  
Hopefully, this one will be a bit longer than the others.  
  
Chapter 5: The End is Near  
  
With her long hair loosely drooping down her dressing gown, her head  
arched downwards, she looked lifeless. This was the opposite of her  
normal attitude. She was lively, with vibrant hair; she seemed to be  
oozing with joy and laughter. What was up with her lately? For the  
past month she had been acting strange. She was sat, with an awful  
expression on her face, a look of sorrow, as if she had never known  
what love was. This was exactly what was going through her mind. What  
was love? Her mind was darting back and forth. Flickering in her mind  
were little memories; memories of her as just a toddler, memories of  
long ago, memories of just a few weeks ago. Some were times that  
reminded her of joyous times with her family, birthdays, Christmas,  
days out, all spending time together. Whilst others, were of painful  
times, when Fred and George were lost, all of the arguments with  
Percy, her father walking out last Christmas Eve (true, he did come  
home half an hour later, he had only gone to the shops- but Ginny  
didn't know that). Then finally, she remembered the most recent time  
she had trusted in a little thing people liked to call love. It had  
all gone horribly wrong. Since then, she had been bitter against the  
world, for people who have to put her through such terrible times.  
  
Harry was the reason for her loss of faith, and hatred for all those  
who believed in love. She could remember it all so well.  
  
  
Harry reached the top of the stairs first, laughing maniacally as he heard the screaming, laughter and shouting below him. Ginny soon caught up with him, laughing still as well. He was leaning against her now; he was laughing so hard he felt as if he were about to fall on the floor. She froze, and he stopped laughing, concerned. "Ginny?" He looked puzzled "What's wrong?" Before he had a chance to say anything else, she quickly ran past him (leaving him sprawled out across the floor) and slammed her bedroom door shut.  
  
She had been so excited, just with the thought that Harry Potter, yes THE famous Harry Potter had been leaning against her, she could feel his soft, tousled hair against her neck, as he was leaning forwards, attempting to stop himself from collapsing on the floor, clutching his ribs, where a stitch was slowly appearing. She had thought about kissing him for so long, finally she was over that stage, and then there she was falling for him again. It was really quite ridiculous. She remembered well some words that Ron had once told her  
  
"I know you really like him Ginny, heck; you even think its love, but its not. It's just a crush; do you honestly think he would go out with you? Or even make a move on him? Cause if you do, go for it, but if not, then just forget about it. He's your friend. It could damage your friendship."  
  
And so, Ginny had stopped acting like a lovesick puppy around him, more like a person, a real person. He would come to her to talk, to ask for advice, even to just have a little laugh. So that was the way it was. Ginny had quickly remembered his words of advice, knowing if she stayed there she would do something she would regret, and ran to her room. That was all there was to it. Harry had gone and got ready, then at about 1 o'clock had knocked politely on her bedroom door. She had opened it, dressed in her new stripy t-shirt and a pair of tight fitted jeans, and had gracefully walked put. They were still on for quiditch after all. Harry, well there was no other way of putting it, Harry looked stunning. He was wearing a dark-red, short-sleeved top, with some black pants. He looked as if he had made an effort for Ginny.  
  
"Hey Harry. You ready?"  
  
she had simply asked. He had nodded then offered her his arm, which she took.  
  
They passed Fred and George on the stairs; they had just been looking for ingredients in their mother's store-cupboard. It seemed that the sweet that was meant to change Ron's face back to its natural colour didn't work, after all the effort the Weasley twins had taken to make it.  
  
"Any luck yet guys?"  
  
Harry had asked them. They grinned mischievously.  
  
"I had a feeling that Pickle Bertie Botts Every Flavour Bean wouldn't work."  
  
Fred replied. They all laughed, whilst Ron came in, looking suspicious. They all stopped laughing at once. He looked around at their guilty faces, sighed, and then walked back out again.  
  
"You see Harry, and my lovely sister," George said, whilst still in fits of laughter, "We haven't actually worked on a cure yet, so we're going to use Ron as a guinea pig for a while, so we can test some other products, and saying we must have done something wrong. We know what we would have to do, IF we wanted his face back the way it was." "Oh but George!" Fred said in a mocking voice that sounded eerily like Mrs Weasley "Ron's face is so much nicer the way it was"  
  
"Fred dear, are you imitating me?" George asked in a Mrs Weasley voice. They all burst into fits of giggles. George, Harry and Ginny suddenly stopped laughing, while Fred carried on laughing.  
  
"Well George? You didn't answer the question. Are you imitating me?"  
  
"Oh shut up George!" Fred looked up, and saw it wasn't George.  
  
"Oh! Hello mother!" Mrs. Weasley's face looked even purpler than Ron's. There was no doubt about it. She was furious.  
  
"Boys! Both of you will march straight up those stairs and make a cure for your brother. Then we'll discuss your punishment!"  
  
Harry and Ginny had taken this chance to quickly sneak out, while Fred and George trundled up the stairs.  
  
By the time they had got to the field, which was far away from the muggle eye, they had talked for quite a while, although neither seemed to want to bring up what had happened earlier. Ginny was keeping quiet because she didn't want to admit her feelings for Harry, although everyone already seemed to know anyway. Perhaps Harry didn't want to bring it up because of his insecurities, most people who were close to him knew he didn't want anyone to dislike him. He was in fact very paranoid, incase people thought he was stuck up, or that he showed off, or that he just asks for trouble and quite often goes looking for it. Ginny knew better than anyone else, it happened quite a lot that he would come into her room to talk to her, sometimes staying all night sitting on her bed, pouring out his soul, and showing his naïve and sensitive side. The side no one was supposed to see, no one could know how he feels about his parents, Voldermort, Sirius' death. Except Ginny. It always seemed as if she had something positive to say, she could always turn it around for Harry. She was kind, sensitive and she understood. She understood exactly how he felt. She was very comforting, and she didn't mind in the least when they sat up talking, no matter how tired she was, she wouldn't turn Harry away. Maybe this was what he liked about her. She wasn't really sure. She realized when they got there he had forgotten his broom. "Harry?"  
  
"Yes Ginny?"  
  
"Where's your broom? Did you forget it?"  
  
"Well. I didn't really have any intention of bringing it."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"Ginny. You're so innocent. I didn't really want to play quidditch. I wanted to. talk to you."  
  
"Okay. err. what would you like to talk about?"  
  
"You"  
  
"ME?"  
  
"Yes. I have talked to you so much over the past few years, but never about you. Homework, Sports, Teachers, School, Me. but never you. Why not? You're interesting and funny. and easy to talk to. But you never have anything to tell me about yourself."  
  
"Where should I start?"  
  
"The beginning."  
  
"Okay"  
  
It seemed to go on like this for what felt like hours. Well, it didn't really FEEL like hours, it WAS hours. At four, they started talking about more things, not just about Ginny, or Harry, about whatever popped into their mind. They began to feel as if they could tell each other anything. Perhaps that wasn't such a good idea though. But it was something Harry did.  
  
"Ginny?" His voice sounded worried. They had been having such a good time, rolling back at the bottom of a hill, not on the Weasley's land anymore, but in the park. It was a huge, beautiful park. Far from the muggle eye, the children played away here. It was a safe place for all the young witches and wizards to hang about, until after dark. I suppose it was like any other park, parents didn't like their children hanging about here after dark. That was when the local gangs would come out to play. But right now, it seemed like the perfect place to hang out. Since summer days were long and it was only five, nightfall (or sunset) wouldn't be for ages. Their good time in the park seemed like the end when Harry started to ask Ginny why she had run off that very morning. The question she had been dreading. But how would she answer this?  
  
"Well you see Harry. I had to go and. what am I saying? I've got to be honest with you Harry. You deserve that. I knew if I stood there for much longer, I would have done something we both would have regretted. I would have made such a fool of myself, a bit like I'm doing now actually. I need you to know this. a long time ago. back when I was crazy about you and had the hugest crush on you. Ron spoke to me. He told me that I don't honestly think I would ever stand a chance with you. and I don't think that. I KNOW that. He said it would ruin our friendship. So I stopped. I stopped trying to make you notice me, I just stopped. And then I began to be your friend. Up until a few days ago, I was still exactly the same, just your friend. But now. I'm not so sure."  
  
"What. what do you mean Ginny?"  
  
"I mean my feelings for you are coming back. And I can't do anything about it. I'm sorry Harry. I'm sorry that I made you feel bad and insecure. but I didn't want to damage our relationship-"  
  
A tongue being shoved down her throat cut Ginny off right there. She naturally responded, wondering what on earth she was doing. But, needless to say, she did enjoy it. The kiss soon deepened, becoming more and more intimate, her arms were wrapped around his neck, whilst his were clinging to her waist. It was obvious they were both enjoying it. They seemed to be kissing for ages, in fact, it WAS for ages. Gasping for breath, Ginny turned to Harry and kissed him once more.  
  
Their kisses soon turned into something more, as their hands started to explore their bodies. Her hands were still around his neck, but his were feeling her body. There was no other word for it really (and I tried to find another word for it), he was groping her. He began massaging her breasts with his hand, while the other hand was clamped firmly onto her ass. But soon, both of his hands were for her top, he slowly began to pull it off, when Ginny pushed Harry away "Harry, no!"  
  
"Aw, come on Ginny! It's not a big deal. It weren't like we were goanna fuck or nothing; I just wanted to see them. I mean, come on, you're in you're fifth year soon, and you ain't had no action yet."  
  
"More than you! And besides, you only kissed Cho last year, that's not exactly a lot, is it?"  
  
"Well, no. But you don't know everything I get up to. Oh forget it, I won't pressurize you. You don't have to do anything you don't want to."  
  
"Thanks Harry!"  
  
With that, they were back all over each other again. It didn't last long, before Harry wanted to go a bit further again. In fact, it wasn't even 15 minutes. He was reaching down to Ginny's pants, slowly slipping his hands down, so she wouldn't notice, he pulled on her button, and slipped one hand down as he unzipped them with the other. She pulled away from the kiss to tell him to stop, but he wouldn't. He had unzipped her pants now, and was trying to slip off her panties. She was struggling against him, so he leant forward, which sent them both toppling on the floor. With him on top of her, there was not much she could do. With a single tear streaming down her face, whilst shaking, she whispered  
  
"Why are you doing this?" He didn't reply, but instead was trying to tug off his own pants, in a hurry for what was about to happen. It was late now, and as he had guessed, there were no little kids around any more. There were all alone. She was still trying to put up a fight, but was in shock from what was happening. She was trying to lean up, but with his weight on top of her, there was no way that she was going to get away. He was ripping the rest of her clothes off now hungrily, hardly being able to keep in his excitement. He leant forward, and spoke to Ginny in what would normally be a soft, comforting voice.  
  
"Ginny, there's no need to feel so scared, I know it's your first time and I know that people say it hurts, but you'll get used to it. We haven't even started yet, I don't know why you're crying over it all."  
  
With that, he leant even further forward, and gave her a rough kiss. It all felt so sleazy, Harry always seemed like such a nice guy. No one really knew him for what he was. Not even Ginny, who thought she had known him better than anyone else. He was the only one in the 'dream team' that she could put up with. Why would he betray her like this? It didn't add up. It was all so confusing for her. She suddenly felt a sharp pain between her legs. A pain unlike anything else she had ever encountered. It all felt so wrong. When would this ever stop?  
  
And so, she laid there, crying silently, hoping to go numb from the pain, but it was impossible. All she could hear was him, giving groans of satisfaction as he dug deeper and deeper into her. She shut her eyes, just as she thought that it would never end, her parents wouldn't even worry. Not if they knew she was with Harry. She shut her eyes, just when a voice called out  
  
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING POTTER?"  
  
  
  
It seemed as though an angel of light had come over her, there was hope after all. The light shining in her face was blinding her, but then she heard a cold sneer  
  
"Never thought you could even get a girl Potter!"  
  
The guy didn't even realize that something was wrong. She tried with all her might to lift her head up, she managed, somehow.  
  
"A WEASLEY? And I thought you could stoop no lower!"  
  
It was if a light bulb had gone off in her head, she recognized that voice now. It was Malfoy. She could see him clearly now, with a look of disgust, he turned around, to walk away. She had to speak now, or else there would be no hope.  
  
"MALFOY! HELP!" She managed to whimper in a croaky voice. He turned around, looking at the sheer terror on her face, and then his expression changed. Finally he realized what was going on. Not the sharpest of blokes, but it didn't matter right now.  
  
"Potter? What are you doing to her?" Harry murmured,  
  
"Go away Malfoy! If you want to see some action, go hire a pay-per-view, or get a video. Just leave us alone!"  
  
"Potter? How could you do this?" He grabbed Harry by the neck and pulled him up off the floor. He punched him with all his might, leaving Harry sprawled across the floor, with a bloodied up nose. Malfoy kicked him a few times, then spat on him, looking at him with loathing and disgust. He turned towards Ginny, and then held out a hand. She stared up at him, unsure of what he was going to do to her. He then sighed, leant down, and dragged her up. He took off his cloak, making Ginny even more wary and frightened of him, then walked towards her. He flinched as he touched her, but soon realized that he was putting his cloak around her. He put a reassuring arm over her shoulder, then he walked her home, acting as a support for her.  
  
The whole walk home, she cried, whilst he told her she would be all right. Once they had arrived at the burrow, he looked over at her, with a worried expression  
  
"Will you be okay going in on your own? Will your parents ask where you've been or anything?"  
  
"No."  
  
"No your parents will say anything? Or no you won't be all right on your own?"  
  
"No I won't be all right on my own. He'll be there. Or if he isn't, he will be later, he's staying here for the rest of the summer."  
  
"Come with me."  
  
"Where?"  
  
"Just come." He held out his hand to her, and she didn't know why, but she took it. She spent the evening in his spare room, and then returned home the next day, before his father knew she had stayed there. Lucius would NOT have been pleased.   
  
Now here she was, one month later, with only a week left till school started. She had already done all of her shopping, on her own. She went without her family this year, deciding to be more independent. She had met him there, not by arrangement, but they had discussed what she was to be doing once school started. She had already decided, she would show them. She would show all of them. She wasn't a weak girl anymore; she knew what she had to do. "Watch out! Here comes Ms Weasley!"  
  
Please review. I need to know what you think. Sorry guys. 


	6. Chapter 5: Independence

Chapter _ A new side of Me  
  
"So it's been a month already eh?"  
  
Staring at herself in the mirror, she knew that things just had to change this year, she had changed.  
  
After spending the summer locked away in her room, away from civilisation, she looked more the part of a vampire, pale and as if she hadn't seen the sun in her life.  
  
The rest of the family had spent the summer in the garden, or out and about.  
  
The youngest Weasley hadn't even gone out of her room for her school supplies.  
  
She had her mail delivered directly to her, instead of to the house.  
  
With her newly found independence she hadn't wanted her mother to have to do simple things like check her mail and cook her meals.  
  
She was like a vampire in more ways than one.  
  
Her chores were done, and she ate well, but her family had never even seen her step foot out of her room throughout the whole month.  
  
With the help of a muggle device called a laptop, she had ordered her school supplies and had them shipped out to her.  
  
It wasn't the only thing she had shipped out to her though.  
  
On a website called E-bay, she had managed to sell all of her old clothes to other people on these muggle devices.  
  
She used the money from that to buy a whole new wardrobe.  
  
Out of all of her siblings, her clothes were by far the best. (Well, possibly with the exception of Bill and Charlie, but they bought their own clothes now. )  
  
This was because with the exception of a few of her mothers old clothes, hers were all bought new for her.  
  
Her mother had never expected her to wear the boys hand-me-downs, because she was a girl.  
  
Fortunately, she spent most of the time playing quiditch and getting dirty, which meant she would wear a few of her brothers tattered T-Shirts.  
  
Her clothes were all in perfect condition.  
  
Her robes from the previous year all fit her, therefore she could save money with all that.  
  
It had actually surprised her how much she could make for all her old clothes.  
  
Ginny had never had the best or most fashionable clothes amongst the other young witches at school.  
  
But the muggle's fashion was completely different, so perhaps her clothes were quite fashionable in their world.  
  
She had also purchased other people's clothes on the website for cheap prices, all of these clothes being in much better condition than her original ones.  
  
Opening her laptop once more, she logged onto her account on E-bay, she was in the middle of a bid for some interesting lingerie and for some new underwear.  
  
She couldn't wear her old plain white underwear this year.  
  
She had changed too much.  
  
She would still feel like herself in them, when really that wasn't what she wanted to be. Ginny had a lot of time to think in the past month, being on her own, she had trained her body and her mind, deciding to become better at defending herself.  
  
She had also decided that the power from her wand was not always going to be enough to save her, it wasn't always available and also it was sometimes easier not to use it.  
  
It's much better to rely on your own senses than on a stick.  
  
True, she was drawn towards her wand, and she did have a special bond between it.  
  
For most, they would be content with that, but not Ginny.  
  
She had trained herself for wandless magic, and also had tapped into the powers of the craft.  
  
After all, you can never have too much magic.  
  
"Finally!" Ginny's bid was finished, and her items were being delivered to her.  
  
She clicked to change her account, and clicked in a code.  
  
What most Muggle's didn't realise was that E-bay was created by a Wizard, and by typing in a code, it transfers it to the Wizarding E-bay.  
  
From here, Ginny could get her items sent to her by owl, and could change the address for it to send to, although the owl's would know anyway.  
  
Ginny could imagine everyone's faces when she got a huge parcel in the great hall when the mail comes on Monday.  
  
Ginny closed down her laptop and folded it away, then tucked it under her arm.  
  
It was her new best friend.  
  
She had found it so easy to pass the time while using it.  
  
She could talk to other people on things called chat rooms, and could go on really interesting websites.  
  
She wondered why they called them websites, but then thought it must be because they're all connected through the internet like a gigantic spiders web.  
  
A bit like the one that harry and Ron went into in her first year, but the less talked about that the better.  
  
With nothing left to do, Ginny began to pack all of her new stuff into her trunk.  
  
It was hard though, she now had twice as many clothes.  
  
She often wondered how the clothes were washed at Hogwarts.  
  
In the bathroom, there would be a laundry chute.  
  
You put your clothes in and it goes down into a tunnel.  
  
The next day, while you were at lessons, they would be returned, sat on your bed washed, ironed and folded.  
  
The house elves must do everyones washing, but surely it takes a lot of house elves to do that.  
  
Suddenly, Ginny remembered that she had to write to Dumbledore to ask if it was ok to bring her new pet.  
  
Feeling a bit alone, she had purchased a pet online.  
  
It may seem a bit strange, but you could order just about anything on that site.  
  
It was surprising they don't sell slaves, but if you looked hard enough, you could probably find them.  
  
Ginny finished her letter and grabbed her purse.  
  
Saving her allowance for the last 7-8 months had definitely come in handy for Ginny.  
  
She had to rush over to the exotic pet store to purchase some mice.  
  
Not pet mice, frozen mice.  
  
Her snake needed mice or other small rodents.  
  
Having a python was going to mean a lot of responsibility.  
  
She would have to feed it everyday, or every few days, make sure it stayed in its cage and the cage was firmly sealed.  
  
No-one would want a snake on the loose, as Harry Potter discovered in her first year when everyone thought it was him who let out the snake.  
  
But enough dwelling on the past, Ginny decided.  
  
She definitely needed a fresh start.  
  
She had decided this a while ago, however, her plans hadn't quite worked out.  
  
Putting on a think layer of eyeliner, she gave herself the once over in the mirror to check she looked okay.  
  
This would be the first time in a long time that her parents had seen her, not that they hadn't tried.  
  
Picking up a long, black leather jacket, Ginny placed her purse carefully in her pocket and stepped out of her door.  
  
Her beautiful red hair looked completely different with her new look.  
  
More gothic and elegant.  
  
She had no idea what her mother would think of this new look, and quite frankly, she didn't care.  
  
Walking down the stairs, she realised that her entire family were aware of her presence down the stairs.  
  
She opened the front door and casually walked out, shutting the door behind her.  
  
She listened out for a moment, paused, and carried on walking when the silence was broken by Ron saying "Where's she going?"  
  
Arriving back at the burrow, Ginny thought that she might as well make an appearance.  
  
She opened the door, put her bags down, and stepped into the living room.  
  
Everyone stared at her, as if she was a completely different person.  
  
Which, strictly speaking she was.  
  
"Ginny dear... what is that that you've got on?"  
  
"You mean my clothes?" she asked her mother.  
  
"What your mother means to say," Her father interrupted "Is, well... where did you get these clothes from?"  
  
"I bought them."  
  
"But your other clothes were perfectly fine."  
  
"No they weren't."  
  
Bill looked at her, gave her the once-over, then decided he had better come to his sister's aid.  
  
"Mum, these clothes are totally cool. You never like it when any of us choose our own clothes. Remember how you reacted when I bought all my clothes?"  
  
"You mean the way she still reacts to them?" Ginny added.  
  
Charlie didn't see the point in Ginny and Bill having all the fun, so he joined in, by the way Ron was looking, he had obviously chosen to take his mother's side in this argument.  
  
The twins were looking approvingly, and Hermione, while shocked, did have a slight smile on her face.  
  
This could be because she liked the clothes, or whether she knew Mrs Weasley was about to lose her temper.  
  
Harry was practically gawping at Charlie's younger sister.  
  
He didn't like the way he was looking at his sister, so he decided the less said about him, the better.  
  
Mrs Weasley was going red in the face, it seemed almost as if it was redder than her hair.  
  
Charlie knew she would rely on his opinion, because he was normally the calm one in the family that could think rationally and seemed to know what was best for everyone.  
  
"Mum, honestly, its not that bad, Ginny's practically grown up now, and while that's hard for you to accept, your children do all grow up at some time. Personally, I think the new look isn't too bad, but I guess you guys need to talk this out. At the end of the day, you can't control Ginny's life and I think she just wants her independence. I do think this is a bit of a strange way to get independence, but everyone does it their own way, and I can understand why she'd want to do it. She wants to be different and unique, stand out from the crowd. She always has, heck, its practically part of Weasley tradition. We all stick out like sore thumbs, you know that as much as the rest of us, and we live off that. Its part of who we are. You should accept that."  
  
Mrs Weasley went quiet for a moment, then eventually said "Perhaps you're right. Ginny, I'm sorry. Are you ok? You seem to be going through a difficult time, is there anything we can do."  
  
"No Mum, for once there isn't. I just need to sort through this on my own, I'll come to you eventually though. Eventually I will want to talk, and when I am ready, I'll come to you. I'm going to go up to my room now, okay?"  
  
The family looked startled by that news.  
  
"Don't worry, I won't lock myself away again, I'll be back down later."  
  
With that, Ginny walked up the stairs, leaving the family downstairs to talk. 


	7. Chapter 6: A New Year, A New Start

Chapter 6: A New Year, A New Start.  
  
The family were going to the train station by car this year.  
  
Arthur Weasley had bought one a few months back.  
  
Ginny was looking forward to her new year.  
  
She was no longer going to tag along after the 'dream team'.  
  
She was going to be truly unique, an individual who always spoke her mind.  
  
She stuffed her trunk into the car, and asked Charlie to shrink her trunk.  
  
They had to do that every year.  
  
There were so many trunks to carry.  
  
But this year it was wasn't as hard, there were only four of them going to Hogwarts this year.  
  
There was five trunks (Ginny had needed 2), one snake in its cage, two owls, and a cat.  
  
All of these were shrunk down, except for Crookshanks the cat because he could sit in the seat.  
  
Ginny had managed to train her snake to do as it was told now, which is miraculous really, its not easy training a snake.  
  
It would give her signs to show that it was hungry, or unhappy.  
  
It was an intelligent snake, and Ginny loved it.  
  
She hadn't been sure what to name it, but later decided on Hobo the snake.  
  
It was a strange name for a snake, but she liked it, and so did Hobo.  
  
Ginny had found it extremely amusing when she had told the family she had a snake.  
  
Her mother had fainted, Hermione screamed, Ron thought she was mad, and Harry said nothing.  
  
Fred and George found it ironic how in her first year she had nearly been killed by Tom Riddle and his snake, and now she has a pet snake.  
  
Ron began asking how she felt about snakes, and saying if he was her, he'd be terrified of them.  
  
Charlie and Bill had rushed up the stairs to see the snake. Ginny went up after them.  
  
Charlie and Bill were the only ones that she would even possibly consider telling about the Harry incident, they were so down-to-earth and understanding.  
  
They were easy to talk to, and they were closest to Ginny out of all of her other brothers.  
  
She would spend more time with Ron, but they were not any closer than they had been three years ago.  
  
When she entered her room, Charlie told her they had been meaning to get her on her own.  
  
"We're worried about you Gin." Bill informed her.  
  
"I know Bill, I know. Its just that..... its hard for me, you know?"  
  
"Well actually," Charlie said. "We don't know, maybe you'd like to tell us?"  
  
Ginny gulped, this was going to be hard.  
  
"Okay, I'll try. Well, you know that day I went off to play quiditch with Harry? Well, we didn't play."  
  
She paused as Charlie and Bill looked at eachother. "You see... Harry never planned on bringing his broomstick. He told me he wanted to talk, because we hadn't in ages. So we talked. Talk and talked until..."  
  
Tears came to Ginnys eyes here. "Until it got dark, he suddenly came on to me, and as you guys know, I had a major crush on him at the time. So... I went along with it for a while, until he tried to...."  
  
Charlie put his arms round his sister, as did Bill, and they gave her a huge hug.  
  
"We understand Gin, really, we do." Charlie comforted her.  
  
Bill tried to make her feel better about the situation "Would you like us to go and beat the crap out of him?"  
  
Ginny smiled weakly and shook her head.  
  
"Okay then sis. Whatever you want." Charlie smiled. "You know I can understand the new look, but what out of all this made you wanna get a snake, if you don't mind me asking."  
  
Ginny shrugged her shoulders. "I was lonely, plus I wanted to rebel and show Harry I wasn't going to be his doormat."  
  
Bill laughed. "Well, this is sure one heck of a way to show him!" Ginny laughed at this.  
  
Charlie looked confused.  
  
"Ginny, that night, Harry came back with a black eye, and you didn't come back till the next morning. What happened?"  
  
Ginny looked up at him.  
  
"When Harry was.... You know... Draco Malfoy saw us, he got Harry offof me and beat him up, then he took me back to his house, got me some clean clothes and looked after me. I slept in his bed, and he wet and slept on the couch."  
  
Bill laughed. "Are you trying to tell me that Malfoy manor hasn't got a spare room?"  
  
Ginny smiled then said  
  
"Of course they do. Draco's father would have flipped if he saw me there, so I slept in Malfoys bed, like I said, and he has a couch in his room, which he slept on. He made me feel comfortable and was really nice to me."  
  
Ginny looked away from her brothers and smiled.  
  
Charlie and Bill looked at each other again and smiled to each other.  
  
"Gin, are you sure that this new look isn't to impress a certain slytherin?" Bill asked.  
  
Ginny laughed and threw a cushion at him. "Maybe."  
  
They all laughed and then had a huge pillow fight.  
  
Sitting in the car, Ginny smiled at all this and then put her seatbelt on.  
  
She looked out of the window, saying goodbye to her house for another year.  
  
Her parents couldn't make the trip, so Bill and Charlie were taking her, Hermione, Harry and Ron to the station. Ginny smiled to herself, knowing they would make this car ride hell for Harry.  
  
The car started, and then they were off.  
  
"Whats the time Bill?" Harry asked.  
  
Bill shrugged his shoulders.  
  
"Charlie, do you know the time?" Harry asked in a friendly manner.  
  
"Don't bother me Harry, I'm driving".  
  
"Oh, not to worry Charlie, if you're too busy, I can tell him the time for you." Hermione said, staring into the back of his head.  
  
She waved her watch in Harry's face, not even looking at Harry.  
  
"You know what Potter?" Bill said in a very snooty tone, "You never said thank you to Hermione, personally, I think that's a bit rude. Don't you Charlie?"  
  
"Yep, I definitely think that's a bit rude."  
  
"Sorry." Harry said in an uneasy tone. "Thank you Hermione."  
  
"I don't know why your friends put up with you when you're just a rude, waste-less piece of space. Didn't those muggles teach you any manners? Or don't they teach that in the muggle world?"  
  
"Bill, I think you're slightly mistaken. Hermione is perfectly polite, its just Harry, it must have been his auntie and uncle. Obviously they think he's so useless that he doesn't need manners, cause he's not going to get anywhere in life. He's just a rude, disgusting, horrible, dirty, PERVERTED little boy who'll never amount to anything. Wouldn't you say so Bill?"  
  
"I most certainly would."  
  
Ginny smirked at Bill's answer.  
  
The whole of the car went quiet for the rest of the journey. Obviously, Harry must know that she'd told them now. If he hadn't, he really must everything Charlie had said and more.  
  
Unpacking their bags was no problem at all with Bill and Charlie's help.  
  
Harry had to get Ron and Hermione to help him though, because he knew the others would simply refuse to.  
  
Charlie was hugging her sister and telling her to "Hang in there."  
  
Bill was stroking her hair and telling her not to let anyone mess with her this year.  
  
She was going to use the Weasley temper this year, he was sure of it.  
  
She clambered in to the train, hoping that Hobo would be allright.  
  
He had never been on a train before.  
  
She went and sat into an empty compartment.  
  
She locked the one of the doors, thinking no-one would be in the compartment next to her.  
  
She decided to let Hobo out for a while.  
  
He stuck out his tongue appreciatively, and slithered around the floor, happy to be let out for as little as half an hour.  
  
Ginny had tried to learn parseltongue, it was a very hard language, and most who could speak it were born with him.  
  
Ginny supposed that being in the chamber with Riddle had meant that she could speak it.  
  
He had transferred her energy into him, but when he was defeated, she thought that it was possible that she had some of talents and skills.  
  
She had become much better at her studies since then, and was especially good at defence against the dark arts, potions and transfigurations.  
  
She knew now that it was true she had some of Riddle's power.  
  
She could communicate with Hobo perfectly.  
  
Which was part of the reason why she had managed to train Hobo so well.  
  
She sat down, watching Hobo for a while.  
  
Then the train began moving and she shut her eyes, waiting to get a bit of sleep.  
  
She woke up and suddenly remembered she had left Hobo out of his cage.  
  
She saw him sat on the floor, slithering around someone.  
  
"I see you're finally awake. Is this snake yours? He's great! Really well trained, so gorgeous, don't you think, look at this snake skin. The best snake I've seen so far."  
  
Ginny smiled, and sat down on the floor.  
  
"Yeah he's mine, this is Hobo the snake. I got him from the pet store, the one next to the quiditch supplies. And yeah, he is gorgeous, hes really intelligent, so easy to train. Whats so funny?"  
  
Ginny gave him an odd look.  
  
"Well, its just so strange thinking a gryfindor has a snake, I mean its such a slytherin kind of animal. How did you train him, snake's are sopposed to be really hard to train."  
  
"I don't think there's anything wrong with a gryfindor having a snake. I'm not so sure I want to be in gryfindor now anyway. And I can talk to snake's, that's how I trained him."  
  
"wow! This is so cool! I was afraid me and Potter were the only ones in school. I was never going to admit to beng one, because I didn't want to have anything in common with HIM."  
  
"You're a parseltongue?"  
  
"Yeah, it skipped about 4 or 5 generations in my family, but I got lucky I guess. My father doesn't know though. He was hoping he would get it, cause it would help him a lot to get closer to........" Draco stopped here, but Ginny knew what he was going to say.  
  
"Yeah, I know." Draco smiled when Ginny said this. She was really understanding.  
  
"Well, this looks like our stop." Draco said as the train came to a halt. "Do you need a hand with your luggage?"  
  
"Sure." Ginny looked around. "Where's yours?"  
  
"Oh... Crabbe's carrying mine." Draco opened the compartment door and called Goyle in. "Take this trunk."  
  
Goyle grabbed Ginny's luggage, and walked out. Draco picked up the snake cage, and put Hobo inside it. "Shall we?"  
  
Ginny followed Draco out, shutting the door behind them. 


	8. Chapter 7: Back At Hogwarts

Disclaimer: Don't own anything from this except the basic plot.  
  
Thanks to everyone who has reviewed.  
  
Chapter 7: Back To Hogwarts  
  
Draco carried Hobo all the way to the carriages, then put the cage down for a second.  
  
"Are you sharing a carriage with your brother?"  
  
Ginny looked at him as if he was crazy. "No, do you seriously think I'm going to go and sit with all of them?"  
  
Draco laughed.  
  
"I suppose not. So... would you like to share a carriage with me?"  
  
Ginny nodded, and he helped her into the carriage, then grabbed Hobo's cage and placed him in the seat next to Ginny's.  
  
He say opposite, facing Ginny.  
  
Crabbe and Goyle peered into the carriage, waiting expectantly as if another two seats would appear out of nowhere.  
  
"Go into the next carriage, and take our luggage with you."  
  
Crabbe grunted and walked off.  
  
Goyle followed, picking up the trunks once more as he walked away.  
  
Draco sighed. "Those guys will never leave me alone."  
  
Ginny laughed.  
  
She had never seen this side of him, well, not since the summer anyway.  
  
It was still strange to see him being nice and making conversation with her.  
  
Normally, he didn't let anyone in.  
  
"Whats so funny?" Draco asked. "Oh nothing."  
  
"No, come on... you've got to tell me now."  
  
"Its just strange that you're being so nice to me. After the last few years, its kind of weird. Do you know what I mean?"  
  
Draco nodded and looked out the carriage, he leant over and petted the threstral.  
  
Ginny was startled by this, but didn't say anything.  
  
Since last year, she had been able to see them, but how did Draco?  
  
Draco noticed Ginny was looking at him with an odd expression.  
  
"What you think the son of a death eater hasn't seen a few deaths in his time?"  
  
He chuckled slightly, but sill remained deadly serious.  
  
"It's sick what they do to people, most of them at least try and prevent their families from seeing what they do, it's the kind of thing that makes you feel like they're not even human... they're like..."  
  
"Monsters?" Ginny asked.  
  
"Yeah, exactly. I can't believe how cruel and horrible they can be. I was okay with it... until I saw it happen."  
  
Draco looked away.  
  
Ginny decided it would be best to stop talking about it, as it was clearly upsetting him, not that he would admit it though.  
  
"Well, some things just can't be changed. I thought threstrals were meant to be quite vicious?"  
  
"Not if you know how to control them. Most peole pet them the same way they would pet a dog... or a horse. But that's not the way they like to be petted. They like to be petted inbetween the eyes. Seems like a strange place... but its true."  
  
"Wow."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Well, you know so much about animals, but you were attacked by a Hippogriff in your third year."  
  
"Well... I suppose I WAS provoking it, but don't you dare tell another soul I admitted to it. I didn't want it to be executed... not really. My father wanted to get rid of that giant, so I had to play along. He knew hat he was too loyal to Dumbledore, and he was a huge threat."  
  
Ginny nodded, a little shocked at how much Draco was telling her.  
  
Sensing this, Draco shut up, and looked out into space.  
  
******  
  
He still remembered his second year at school.  
  
She was only eleven, but she was the only person to stand up to him.  
  
And it impressed him.  
  
Sure, Potter always thought that he was standing up to him, but all he was really doing was trading insults.  
  
He never really stuck up for anyone, there was the one occasion where he retrieved Longbottoms rememberall, but that helped Harry more than it had helped Neville.  
  
He got onto the quiditch team, and it gave him a chance to show off.  
  
She was different, she wasn't helping herself by telling him to leave Harry alone, instead the poor girl ended up embarrassed and insulted, but all she did was glare up at him and shrug it off.  
  
He could tell it was hurting her that day, even now he can see the look on her face, but she tried so hard to be brave and hide her emotions.  
  
She actually told HIM, the one and only Draco Malfoy, to leave them alone.  
  
Looking at her now, he knew she had plenty of courage and determination.  
  
She would have easily made a slytherin.  
  
He smirked as he thought this, imaging her brother's expressions if she HAD of been chosen for slytherin.  
  
"What's so funny Draco?"  
  
"Oh nothing, just thinking about the day I was sorted into slytherin. What did the hat say to you?"  
  
"Well, he said, 'there's no need to look so nervous. Oh, another Weasley... I wonder where you're going to end up... you want to be with your brothers? Are you sure? Okay... if you insist. GRYFINDOR!' What did it say to you?"  
  
"The hat said 'Oh, a Malfoy... I know where to put you. SLYTHERIN!!!' Not too surprising though. So did you tell the hat where you wanted to go then? It might not have been the right place for you, you're different to your brothers. And I remember speaking to you in your first year, you could have easily been a slytherin."  
  
"I'll take that as a compliment." Ginny smiled. "Anyway, here we are. Back at Hogwarts."  
  
******* 


	9. Chapter 8: The Sorting Part 1

A/N: Hope you guys all liked the last chapter. This one will have a few surprises in store for you all. ^_^  
  
Disclaimer: How many more of these do I have to write? Look at the other chapters, they'll all tell you that I don't own any of this blah blah blah. Now, on with the story.  
  
Chapter 8: The Sorting  
  
Dumbledore stood up and did his usual speeches. "Welcome back, to another year at Hogwarts. The sorting will now begin."  
  
Ginny tuned out while about a hundred or so first years were sorted, stopping occasionally to clap when her house were cheering.  
  
She stared out into space, daydreaming.  
  
"Ginny. Pay attention. This is important you know, we need to introduce ourselves to the new griffindors."  
  
Hermione didn't want to show up the gryfindors or the prefects, so she was trying to make all the first years welcome.  
  
Ginny looked up as the last student was being sorted (Sarah Zatterlann).  
  
She was sorted into hufflepuff.  
  
Dumbledore stood up to greet the students, but was interrupted.  
  
"There is one more to be sorted this year."  
  
Dumbledore turned around, and saw the sorting hat looking up at him.  
  
"Oh? And who would that be?"  
  
"Virginia Weasley." 


	10. Chapter 9: The Sorting Part 2

A/N Hi, sorry that this chapter got messed up, I uploaded the wrong document, and accidently put on the first two lines in my other story.  
  
So now I've got to try and remember what I put, and type it all up all over again.  
  
Chapter 9: The Sorting Part 2  
  
Ginny sat in her seat, a smug look across her face as the entire school stared at her, all in shock.

She glanced for a second over in Draco's direction, he clearly looked impressed.

She wasn't quite sure if they were friends or not.

They acted like it, and he was there for her.

She would definitely class him as a friend.

In fact, she would class him as her _ONLY_ friend right now. Her best friend.

Probably the best friend she had ever had.

Her other 'friends' had refused to accept the way she had changed.

He was very understanding about the whole thing. Most likely because he knew the full story of why she had changed.

She knew he could be trusted, even if no-one else knew.

Whilst she was thinking about all of this, Dumbledore was sitting on the other side of the hall with a troubled expression across his face.

Obviously, he didn't know everything, because he sure didn't know what was going on right now.

"I'm sorry, but you're obviously clearly mistaken, Miss Weasley is in her fifth year here, she doesn't need to be sorted."

The hat laughed at Dumbledore. "You haven't listened to a word I've said.

I _KNOW_ that Ms Weasley is in her fifth year, but I'm afraid it is inevitable, she _MUST_ be resorted.

It's the only way.

She has to.

I'm not so sure that she should be in Gryffindor anymore, she's been through too much."

"I realise this, but miss Weasley is in Gryffindor, its where she belongs."

The hat looked up at Dumbledore. "Trust me."

Dumbledore let out a sigh. "As you wish."

He motioned for Ginny to come over to where he was standing.

But someone else stood up instead.

"She is _NOT_, I repeat _NOT_ being resorted. She belongs in Gryffindor, its where she belongs."

Hermione stood up, and placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Ron, sit down" she told him quietly.

"Don't worry about your sister, she's a total freak now, we don't want her clinging to us anymore anyway."

He sat down

"I suppose you're right." He whispered quietly.

Ginny then walked over, and sat down on the stool.

Dumbledore put the hat onto her head.

The hat promptly swallowed her up.


	11. Chapter 10: The Sorting Part 3

Chapter 10: The Sorting Part 3  
  
As gasps and screams went out through the room, Draco immediately stood to his feet and ran over to where the hat was.  
  
He saw through the corner of his eye that Harry was doing the same.  
  
He grasped hold of the hat.  
  
"Where did she go?" he demanded furiously.  
  
"Relax Mr Malfoy; she's just gone to be sorted.  
  
She's in a pensieve of her memories, and then she'll be taken on a journey through my head, seeing people being sorted. She'll travel through time. Then she'll come back, and decide where to go. Slytherin, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw or to stay in Gryffindor."  
  
"So how long will that take?" Draco was a little shocked at how honest the hat just was with him, but remained calm.  
  
"Oh... about an hour and a half."  
  
Draco walked away, deciding to sit down to his meal.  
  
He'll be there in an hour when she returns.  
  
'What is Malfoy doing?' Harry was frozen to the spot as he watched Draco question the hat, he couldn't hear anything though.  
  
Soon, Malfoy walked away and sat down.  
  
This was Harry's chance.  
  
He walked over to the hat. "Excuse me... could you tell me what you've done with Ginny?" he tried to be polite, but at the same time he was very anxious.  
  
"Mr Potter... ah yes, I remember the day I sorted you.  
  
I knew what would happen to you if you ended up in Gryffindor. You're parents would be proud of some of the stuff you've done throughout your years here. But be warned, if they knew some of the stuff you've done... they wouldn't be so proud, they'd be ashamed of you."  
  
"Just tell me what you've done with her!"  
  
"Me? I haven't done anything to her. In fact, you're the one who did something to her. Didn't you Mr Potter?"  
  
"I.... erm... don't know what you're talking about."  
  
"You don't?"  
  
"No" Harry sounded unsure of himself now.  
  
"Very well Mr Potter. If you say so."  
  
Harry was getting extremely angry.  
  
While the rest of the students were screaming, looking around the room, and running to the prefects, Harry was shouting at the hat.  
  
"JUST TELL ME WHAT YOU'VE DONE WITH HER!!!"  
  
The hall suddenly went silent, and all eyes were on Harry and the hat.  
  
The hat smirked. "Didn't you see, Mr Potter? I ate her"  
  
Harry lunged at the hat, and was trying to tear his seams apart.  
  
Dumbledore rushed over, along with 3 or 4 other teachers, and separated Harry from the sorting hat.  
  
Dumbledore ushered Harry to his seat, and then spoke to the students, who had calmed down.  
  
"I think... that we should begin eating our meal. We will sort out this mess with Miss Weasley later. For now, enjoy!"  
  
The students began to eat, all having a good time.  
  
Draco ate, not saying a word to anyone, just staring at the hat.  
  
Ginny landed with a THUMP!  
  
On the ground, rubbing her shin, she got up and looked around.  
  
She stepped forward, and saw herself, deep in a trance, writing on the wall in blood.  
  
She shuddered, she had never completely gotten over that, she was a little creeped out at watching herself.  
  
She turned away, and saw herself walking around in the park with Harry.  
  
he shut her eyes, not wanting to see what was going to happen next.  
  
But when she opened them, she saw a younger version of herself, at the tender age of about 10, crying as her brothers boarded the Hogwarts express.  
  
She laughed, hearing something familiar about a toilet seat.  
  
The place began to swirl again, and she saw herself at the age of 7, walking around Diagon Alley.  
  
Percy was starting school. She had watched in awe, as he was tried on his Hogwarts uniform, he beamed at her, sticking his nose high up into the air. He was so proud of himself.  
  
Then, Fred came up behind him with a muddy bludger and threw it straight at him.  
  
George jumped into the way, swinging his toy bat.  
  
The ball missed Percy, but splattered his robe in mud as it swerved past him.  
  
His face immediately fell, and Ginny felt a pang of sympathy for her brother, who began crying.  
  
Suddenly, she felt a sharp pain in her stomache.  
  
She collapsed on the floor, out of breathe, and shut her eyes.  
  
When she awoke, Ginny saw the hat standing before her.  
  
It didn't make any movement, or say anything, so she sat down.  
  
She heard a familiar voice in her head. 'I've looked into your head, now you look into mine.'  
  
She looked around, and realised she was at Hogwarts.  
  
She remained seated, but then a students name was called, and they stepped forward.  
  
"ARTHUR WEASLEY!" She stared in astonishment as her father sat down.  
  
She went straight through him, which tickled her a lot, it certainly felt very weird.  
  
She heard his voice  
  
'Oh gosh! What am I supposed to do?' she smiled; her father always was the panicky type.  
  
'Relax' the hat told him 'now lets take a look at you. Ah, yes... quite a brain, but noble too. Very brave, yes, you're a good sort Arthur. I think you would be best in slytherin.'  
  
'oh my god.. this can NOT be happening.'  
  
'only joking, GRYFFINDOR you need to relax kid, take it easy.'  
  
A smiling Arthur Weasley stepped down from the chair, realised he was still holding the hat, turned round blushing furiously, then set it back down and rushed over to the Gryffindor table, with a relieved expression on his face.  
  
Next, she could see different students, all different years, not just one's about to be sorted. She realised she was on the train.  
  
She looked around, but couldn't recognise any of these.  
  
'Where are you?' she whispered. 'you'll see me soon enough. But, in the meantime, why not take a look around, you may learn something.'  
  
She walked into the door to the nearest compartment, and saw some VERY familiar people.  
  
One of the boys, with pale skin and blonde hair was in the middle of talking,  
  
'...are much better than others, Potter. You don't want to go making friend with the wrong sort, I can help you there.'  
  
He held out his hand to shake Harry's, but Harry didn't take it.  
  
Ginny walked in, and tugged very hard at the back of Draco's head, his hand went to his head, as if he had just been slapped across the back of his head.  
  
Pleased that he could feel it when she slapped him, she stepped out in front of him and began slapping Harry and kicking him, yet he remained composed, in fact, he didn't feel a thing.  
  
Draco on the other hand, was staring at her in shock.  
  
But as she walked away, giving up on hurting Harry, he shook it off, thinking he was imagining things.  
  
Ginny felt herself spin around and around again, her stomache churning as it did so.  
  
She finally stopped spinning, and was left sat in a bare room.  
  
In the middle of the room, was an able and a chair, and nothing else.  
  
She sat in the chair, and a piece of paper and a pen appeared in front of her.  
  
She leant forward and looked at it. Puzzled, she looked up as she heard a clock ticking.  
  
'You have an hour. Your test starts now.'  
  
Suddenly, the blank piece of paper was filled with questions.  
  
Ginny looked over it, and began to concentrate on her test.  
  
Question 1. Which spell is used to levitate objects? – 'this is so easy!' she wrote down wingardium leviosa.  
  
Question 2- what is a grim? – 'hmm... the grim is... a superstitious bad luck charm. It is generally a black dog, which symbolises death.'  
  
The questions carried on like this, until finally, she turned over and got to the last question.  
  
Question 32- which house do you think you should be in and why? –  
  
Ginny wrote:  
  
I think I would do well in all of the houses, I am generally I likeable person, and get on well with the Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Gryffindor already. I find Gryffindor to be a tad bit on the boring side, and don't really fit in with my friends anymore.  
  
I would like to be in slytherin, because it would be quite a challenge, but at the same time would be hard to make friends and be accepted. I already have one friend in slytherin, so that would help quite a bit.  
  
I would like to be in Hufflepuff.... but it would be a bit predictable, and I think after all the things I have been through, I would be too different to the Hufflepuff, which is exactly the same in Ravenclaw.  
  
So therefore, I think Slytherin would be the best place to be, as if I would fit in eventually and enjoy life there. Slytherins look exciting, and life there would certainly never be dull.  
  
They are all loyal, and while they may not be as pure as the other houses, they have respect for eachother and they look out for one-another. While they are prejudice against other houses, they are equally discriminated also. I also think that the rivalry between houses should be stopped. I understand why it may be fun in sports, but in the house cup, it is just promoting more violence between the houses, and moiré tension and friction, making them all more unsociable and unkind towards one another.  
  
Ginny put down her pen, just as she did so, the voice boomed  
  
'The test is now finished. Ms Weasley... you are in... SLYTHERIN!!'  
  
Ginny smiled and shut her eyes, waiting for the swirling and stomache- churning to begin. 


	12. Chapter 11: Welcome To Slytherin

Chapter 11: Welcome To Slytherin  
  
Draco sat awaiting for Ginny to return.

Through the last hour he had thought a great deal about her.

He loved the way she smelt; it was a sweet lingering scent, fruity and inviting.

He loved her name, Ms. Virginia Weasley.

The last name wasn't quite so good, as that could cause a few problems, but he longed for her to be called Ms Virginia Malfoy, the name just rolled off of his tongue so well.

Fortunately, the name didn't roll right off of his tongue, as he didn't think any of his fellow slytherin peers would be too pleased to hear him saying all of this.

Not that he cared, no one bothered him because they knew what would happen if they did.

He sat for ages, going through a list of everything that he loved about her.

He loved the way she was so innocent, yet was so rebellious and the way that she always got back up and tried no matter what life threw her way.

She was persistant and loyal.

At the same time, she was pure and sensitive, she was tough and hard, she had a shell on the outside.

She was his turtle.

It sounded odd, but she was.

She had a hard shell, and it was easy to break through, but inside was a delicate and frail little girl, who was easily broken.

He felt so powerful next to her, like it was his job to protect her and hide her away from anything that could hurt her.

Once she let you into her shell, you knew that she truly cared for you.

Besides her family, there were not many people she had let in.

But all of those people hurt her, in some way or another.

It made him sick thinking that someone like Harry Potter had been so cruel to her and had hurt her. That night, he had taken her under his wing and whisked her off to mend the broken shell, and it killed him to see her suffer like she did.

He wasn't about to let it happen again. He was going to make sure of it.

But at the same time, he didn't want to become like any of her brothers, they were either too overprotective, or they just let her slip through their fingers, let her fall right out of the nest like a little baby bird.

The poor chick had so much ordeal in her life, and he hated to see her falling from the nest, unable to fly back into it.

Meanwhile, Ron was to busy trying to collect his own worms and make his own nest.

He briefly glanced over at Ron and Hermione, sitting next to each other, his hand on her thigh, and her hand rested on his shoulder as they talked in low whispers.

He smirked at them when they looked over, and then he turned around and sighed.

Right now, he would do anything for her to be sitting in the hall, no one making a huge fuss over her and eating her meal.

He wouldn't care what house she was in, just as long as she was still there.

He wouldn't even mind if she was in Hufflepuff, and that was saying something seeing as though he spent more time taunting them then he did with any of the other houses.

He sat back in his chair and ran his hand through his hair.

It was a nervous habit that he did, he always played with his hair, or messed it up in some way.

He closed his eyes, longing for her to be standing there when he opened them.

He heard a gasp, and opened them quickly, and there, standing next to the sorting hat, was Ginny.

He felt like running over to her and taking her into his arms, but he knew he couldn't possibly.

She looked so weak, dizzy after all of her time traveling.

She soon became composed though, and smiled slightly as she stood up, and stepped away from the stool.

She looked around at the four different tables, looking at each and every person, when she got to Slytherin her eyes scanned across the table, until they met Draco's.

They stared at eachother for a while, the hall had gone completely silent once again.

She broke eye contact with him, smirked slightly and stepped forward, she walked straight past the Ravenclaw table, past the Hufflepuff table, and stopped at the Slytherin table.

She saw a seat nearby Draco and went to sit near him.

Unfortunately, there were many people there who didn't make her feel welcome.

The entire hall was silent, waiting to see what would happen.

Blaise Zambini, Pansy Parkinson and many others were looking at her with disgust.

She smirked at them and sat down.

She casually began to eat her meal.

Eventually, the hall began to fill up with chatter and noise.

The Slytherins remained silent whilst she was eating.

She took a sip at her drink and looked up from her meal. Pansy was sitting opposite her, staring at her in shock.

She smiled at her, which made the look of surprise on her face about ten times bigger.

She looked over at Draco, who had an amused expression, he was very probably the only one who did.

He smiled at her when he realized she was watching him.

She smiled back, and she heard Pansy grumbling. She looked back over at her, and realized she was turning green with envy.

She stood up and picked up her leather coat.

She looked over at Draco and motioned for him to come with her as she walked past him.

He stood up, and followed her. Crabbe and Goyle stood up to follow him.

"Sit down. I don't want you following me all of the time."

He smirked and left the hall. She was waiting outside for him.

When he got there, he took her by the hand and led her outside.

He walked over to the willow tree overlooking the lake. It had a beautiful view of the castle and of the night sky.

He let go of her hand and sat down.

She followed suit and sat down also.

It was a beautiful night, but it was beginning to get colder, so there was a wind in the air.

He shivered slightly. He had just a pair of trousers and some light robes on.

Noticing this, Ginny wrapped herself around him in an attempt to keep him warm.

She had a warm, leather jacket on, so she wasn't cold.

He pulled his arms around her waist and pulled her close. She snuggled into him.

"So what did you do to get into Slytherin?"

"Well, I wrote an essay on what house I'd like to be in and why."

"Wow. You have good taste then. You got to choose which house you were in. Well, you made the right choice. In my opinion anyway."

She smiled and hugged him.

"I hope so. I don't think Pansy likes me very much though. She was slightly annoyed when you smiled at me in the great hall."

"Don't worry about her, she doesn't like anybody at first. By the end of the year you'll be practically best friends with her. By the way, do you have to go and get your schedule for today? Everyone else's is going to be delivered tomorrow at breakfast, but you're schedule will probably be all messed up now, so I would have thought that Dumbledore will want to see you in his office to talk to you."

"Oh, you're probably right." She didn't really want to leave right now, when they were sitting peacefully, snuggled into eachothers arms.

"Oh, I'll go see him later, he'll still be at the feast anyway." He smiled and stroked her hair. She shut her eyes and wished that this moment would never end.

She probably wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him.

She didn't know how she would of reacted to the Harry situation if it wasn't for him.

She had considered suicide, but he had helped her through it.

Just thinking of his comforting face and the way he had taken care of her, it inspired her to carry on with life.

He knew that she was strong and that she could survive it.

She had proven him right.

She was strong-willed and happy. Well, happier than she had been anyway.

She loved him.

It seemed strange that she thought she loved him, even if they had only known eachother properly for a short time.

But no-one had ever been so kind to her in such a long time, that she knew how much she cared for her.

She loved him like she could never love anyone else.


	13. Chapter 12: Zabini, Dumbledore and Snape

Chapter 12- Zabini, Dumbledore and Snape.

The evening just seemed so perfect, it really was quite amazing. Ginny had laid there for hours in Draco's arms, and they were so snug there together. It had gotten much colder, but Draco wasn't bothered, he had Ginny to keep him warm. She lay there, getting sleepier by the minute, they didn't even have to say much, they were both content with each others company. Ginny's eyes were beginning to droop, she snuggled into Draco again and shut her eyes.

Draco stroked her soft, beautiful hair. He knew that he cared for her so much. More than he ever knew possible. He didn't ever think he would be able to care for someone, until he met her. He knew now that he loved her. He loved her so much, and he wouldn't ever let anything happen to her, he would keep her safe from people like Harry and from people like her brother, who shut her out of his life. She was heartbroken, they used to be so close when they were younger, but since Ron had grown up and started school at Hogwarts, he had completely changed.

Draco knew she was so fragile, she had been hurt so much by people she trusted. He wanted to take away the pain, he wished so hard that he could, but he also knew that it wasn't possible. All he could do was help her through this hard time that she was having, and be there for her whenever she needed him. And this was what he intended to do.

The next morning, the sun rose above the castle. The lake glistened, as the giant squid swam happily through the water. The willow trees swayed in the light wind. At the tree down by the lake, two people stirred as they awoke, after enjoying pleasant dreams the night before. Ginny sat up from laying the night before in Draco's arms. She looked at him, a smile plastered across her face. He looked so sweet when he was asleep, his hair tousled and loose, his arms laying sloppily by his sides, he looked peaceful. She gently, stroked his face and woke him. He opened his arms, and smiled at her.

"Morning." He smiled, and stretched out his arms, whilst letting out a small yawn.

"Good morning Draco. We should probably get back up to our rooms before anyone catches us, and I have to go and talk to Professor Dumbledore." He stood up, and helped Ginny to her feet.

"Well, we'll go to the Slytherin common room first, we'll go and get changed, and have a quick shower, then I'll go to breakfast while you talk to Dumbledore, I'll save you some toast and stuff. Okay?"

She smiled. "Okay, thanks Draco."

"No problem." He wrapped his arm around her waist, and together they walked up to the castle. When they approached the Slytherin common room, Draco began to look around for someone who knew the password. As they got closer, Pansy and her friends walked outside the common room. They stopped when they saw Draco and Ginny. Glaring at Ginny, Pansy began to talk.

"So where were you two last night?"

"It's none of your business Pansy."

"Well, Drakie, I think it is my business, I want to know exactly what this bitch was doing with MY Draco." Draco was about to say something but Ginny stepped forward before he had the chance. Even though Pansy was a good couple of inches taller, she looked her straight into the eye.

"Firstly, it really isn't any of your business where we were. Secondly, he isn't your Draco, he doesn't belong to anybody. Thirdly, you're not going to get rid of me that easily, so just deal with it, you never know, we could become friends. Or, you could keep giving me glares and dirty looks, talking about me behind my back and expecting Draco to not hang around with me. And if you think I'm just going to disappear, you've got another thing coming. I'm here to stay, and not even a slut like you could stop me. I'm not going to let you push me around, so back off!"

She grabbed Draco's hand and walked into the common room.

"Damn. We didn't find out the password." Draco laughed and shut the door behind them. He pointed her in the direction of her room, and quickly went into his room to take a shower.

"Professor Dumbledore, you wanted to see me?" The man in the chair put on his half-moon spectacles and turned around, eyes twinkling in the direction of the young boy standing before him.

"Ah yes, Mr Zabini, I believe you have some information for me?"

"Well Sir, I have discovered that the ceremony will be performed the day after the Christmas holidays begin."

"Do you know which students will be taking part?"

"Not yet sir, but I can find out."

"In the mean time, I will find out which students are staying for Christmas here. They will be the ones that are not a threat to us. You are dismissed."

"Thank you sir."

The boy with the dark hair quickly scurried out of the room. He knew what would happen if the other Slytherins found out, but he couldn't help it. His father had always told him it was better to be working for both sides, as he had always done. This way, he would be protected from the deatheaters, but not suspected by the ministry. It had worked for him. He also knew he was close to failing, and in order to keep his grades up, he had a deal with Dumbledore.

Rushing down the stairs which led to the headmasters office, he bumped into someone.

Someone in a hurry.

Someone with auburn hair.

"Watch where you're going Zabini!"

"Shut your filthy mouth Weasley." She brought her wand out and pinned him against the wall with it.

"What did you say?"

"I said- I said shut your filthy mouth." The boy was obviously terrified.

"If you know whets good for you, you'd start treating me with a little more respect. I have powers beyond your wildest dreams, don't mess with me." He didn't say anything, just stood there, terrified of what she was going to do.

"Do you understand me?"

"Y-yes."

"Good. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go and see Dumbledore about something." She carried on walking up the stairs, leaving a trembling Zabini desperate for revenge. Knocking quickly on the door, Ginny walked in to Professor Dumbledore's office.

"Hello Sir, I was wondering what is happening with my schedule for this year?"

"Ah yes. Ms Weasley, do take a seat." She sat down, waiting to hear what he had to say about yesterdays events.

"Well, Ms Weasley, what cause all that aggravation yesterday?"

"Well, the hat seemed to think I needed to be re-sorted sir."

"Ah yes, but weren't you happy in Gryffindor? You easily could have refused, or asked to be in Gryffindor."

"I didn't think that was fair sir. Besides, things have turned out quite well. This way everyone's happy."

"I have reason to believe that not everyone is happy. I spoke to your brother, Harry and Ms Granger. They all seem to think you shouldn't be in Slytherin."

"Sir, did you hear them yesterday? They don't want me in Gryffindor with them."

"True, but they don't want you in Slytherin. Perhaps you could talk to the hat and tell him you made a mistake?"

"No sir. I don't want to be in Gryffindor if my brother thinks I'm a burden to him."

"But, Ms Weasley, you would become a bigger burden in Slytherin. They would have to constantly check up on you and always worry if you were alright all alone in your common room."

"But sir, I won't be alone."

"There won't be any other Gryffindor to protect you. Surely you've heard the rumours about what they do to people they dislike?"

"Yes I have sir. But I believe that while Slytherins are not to be trusted, they are protective of their housemates, they are like a big family in Slytherin."

"Very well. Perhaps Gryffindor wasn't the best place for you. However, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw would be a very suitable choice for you. You wouldn't be in anyone's way, and you'd fit in and make friends easily. You already have plenty of friends in those houses after all."

"Professor, I have no regrets about being in Slytherin. Yes, maybe I would make friends easily, but that doesn't matter. I already have a friend in Slytherin, and I didn't expect for it to be easy to make friends. I like a challenge. I chose to be put in Slytherin, because I've changed too much to fit in in Gryffindor, Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw. I will fit into Slytherin eventually, they'll just have to get used to me. And when I said everyone is happy now, I meant my brother doesn't have to feel like I'm tagging along with them, and I'm happy in Slytherin."

"How can you be sure that you're happy, you've only been there for a day."

"I know I'm happy. I have friends here, unlike any of the other houses, and if you brought me here today to change my mind, then you've got another thing coming. I will not back down, and I will not change my mind. I don't care what Ron thinks, he was never there for me anyway, I don't care what Hermione thinks, she was never my friend. And I especially don't care what Harry thinks. The only reason you're trying to talk me out of this is because the 'golden trio' aren't happy. Teachers aren't supposed to have favourites you know. Its my life. And as far as I'm concerned, I'm more bothered that I'm happy with what I'm doing in my life than that Harry, Ron and Hermione are unhappy. They never cared before, why should they care now? And another thing, you say that I don't have anyone from Gryffindor to protect me, well, they didn't do such a good job of that in my first year, did they? I don't need anyone to protect me. They are the ones I should be protected from, they act like they're concerned about me when they're not. They twist my head around. They need me one minute, then the next they hate me. I'm sick of it. They are psychologically messing me up. I can't take all that pressure anymore. And no-one, not even you, are going to change my mind, or stop me from living my life the way I want. You have no control of me anymore, deal with it."

Dumbledore stared at her in shock.

"You didn't see that coming, did you?" With that, she picked up her schedule and walked out.

Draco sat in the great hall, playing with his hair, wondering what was taking Ginny so long. Blaise Zabini walked in, and sat opposite Draco.

"Hey Malfoy."

"Hey Zabini, what do you want?"

"I want to ask you something."

"Oh, what's that?" He took a sip of his drink.

"What's going on with you and that Weasley chick?" He spat out his drink.

"What? Nothings going on."

"Oh good, so you're not going out or anything."

"Good?"

"Yeah, cause it could have become a problem when I'm doing her up the ass." Draco lunged across the table at him.

"Don't you dare even try it Zabini, or I'll kill you. Just leave her alone."

He was choking him when Ginny walked in. She screamed and ran straight over. She managed to calm Draco down, and then turned towards Zabini.

"What's the matter with you? Didn't you understand our agreement?"

"Piss off you bitch! This doesn't concern you." He hadn't even finished his sentence, when she had pinned him to the floor with her wand.

"I thought we decided you were going to treat me with a little more respect? Too bad. I warned you what would happen if you didn't."

She pointed her wand at his face, and he flinched as she cast a spell on him. Everyone in the hall leant forward on their seats to see what she had done to him. She let him stand, so he stood up covering his face. A single bat flew out from behind his hands. He dropped his arms to his sides in shock, and screamed when he found out where the bats were coming from. As more and more bats escaped, he tried to cover his nose, but to no avail. Ginny laughed and faced Draco.

"Wow. Those bats are bigger than the time I did that to you. I'm improving."

He laughed and held out a seat for her. She laughed back and sat down. He passed her a plate of pancakes as he sat and began eating his toast.

"Welcome Ms Weasley." Snape drawled. "You're early."

Ginny smiled at his unexpectedness.

"Well, it never kills to be early."

"So it's not just me that has that theory. Please, take a seat. Your classmates will be here soon, so you get first choice of where to sit I suppose."

"Thank you sir." Ginny took a seat at the back of the class.

"I don't like students who try to sit as far away from me as possible. They think that they're out of sight so they can afford to misbehave in my class."

"Oh no, you don't have to worry about that sir."

"Good. I don't want my star pupil to suddenly stop paying attention in class."

"Star pupil?"

"Well, you were far superior to your class last year. Where did you pick up all that information?"

"Potions for Dummies- Grade 1"

"Really? I have to pick up that book next time I go to the library."

"Oh, no sir. It's not a library book. It's one of the books they need in Durmstrang for first years. My... friend gave it to me when he travelled to their school on a visit."

"Ah, I see. Very well then. May I borrow it?"

"Of course sir." Ginny rummaged through her bags and pulled out a book, then handed it to Snape.

"Thank you Ms Weasley." He looked at her, uncertainly for a second, then looked away.

"Is something trouble you sir?"

"Yes, well... I hope you don't mind me asking, but... what happened yesterday? What made you want to be in Slytherin? I'm not criticising you, I think old Dumbledore's done that enough already, I was just wondering. Of course if you don't want to tell me, that is fine."

"Erm... well you see sir, it's mainly because I was sick of the way the Gryffindors treated me. Ron's little sister, that's what they thought. Ron didn't care enough to spend any time with me, and I disliked Hermione. Harry, on the other hand, was the only one out of the three of them that I could deal with. I didn't mind spending time with him." I couldn't believe I was telling Snape all of this.

"I liked him. I can't believe that I'm telling you all this. Yeah, we were like the best of friends, until..." My voice trailed off, but I didn't have to finish, because he understood perfectly.

"Until you found out what the potter's are really like. I understand. I really do. Of course, no one else would, the potters are much too noble for anyone to believe you when you finally get the courage to tell them what they've done. Then, everyone starts to doubt you, friends will leave you, even family take his side. Finally, you feel like your life is ruined, and you're desperate for revenge. You'd do anything for revenge, even join up with dark forces. You don't get a chance to act out your revenge, too many other people are trying to do exactly the same thing. Those potters are all the same. Don't worry, he'll get what's coming to him."

"Hmm... I guess you're right. So, you had bad experiences with a potter as well?"

"Yeah."

"And I'm guessing the dark forces bit is Voldemort?" Snape didn't flinch.

"I'm impressed Ms Weasley. Not many people are brave enough to say his name, except for those who are brought up to admire the man."

"Deatheaters children? Yeah I suppose you're right. But after meeting the guys younger version, and nearly being killed by him, I feel as though I don't have to be scared of the name. Just the person... well, thing."

"Once again, a very good theory. And yes, my dark forces were Voldemort and the death eaters."

"Well, I suppose my dark forces are Draco, because that's about as close as I get."

"You and Mr Malfoy are friends?"

"He sort of... came to my rescue when I was in a bit of a state, I was... you know, with Harry at the time."

"Ah, I see. I thought the two of you were rather close at dinner last night, and at breakfast as well."

"You saw that?"

"Well, Mr Zabini had it coming to him."

Ginny laughed. "You know, you're not as bad as everyone makes you out to be."

"Well, thank you I suppose. Now if you'll excuse me, I have two minutes until the lesson starts, and I need to go and shout at anyone that's late." Ginny laughed again.

"Well, it was nice talking to you sir."

"And you also, Ms Weasley. Remember, I'm your head of house now, so if you ever have any problems, don't hesitate to come and see me. Or if you just need to talk. Oh, and make sure you hold onto Mr Malfoy, there aren't many others quite like him. He's incredibly loyal. Just... not quite as loyal as his father, if you know what I mean." Ginny nodded her head, as he walked towards the door, and began shouting at the students that came in. The next couple of hours practically flew past for Ginny, and she couldn't wait until lunch, so she could be with Draco.

A/N Thanks to all of you who reviewed. I think everyone that takes the time to read my stories are great. But those of you who review as well, you're the best!!!!


	14. Chapter 14: Snitches, Twigs and Owls

A/N It really has been far too long. I apoligise. Sorry this one is so short - I **will** be updating again soon and it **will** be longer. Two guesses who the letter is from? I wonder who it could be...

Chapter 13 – Snitches, Twigs and Owls

-**M**-

I have some news for you regarding your son. I have my suspicions that he may be involved with the Weasley daughter. I know how concerned you would be to hear of this, so I thought it best to relay this information to you as soon as possible. I will, of course, investigate further and fill you in on anything I discover, should you request any more details. Let me know if you need any more information on your son, I know how worried you get having him here under Dumbledore's influence.

Father is throwing a ball in December, a celebration of sorts, the invitations haven't been sent out yet, but I know how busy you get over the Christmas period with so many of the ministry officials throwing their own parties, I know it'd mean a lot to our family if Mrs Malfoy and yourself would be able to attend. Perhaps Draco would like to attend also, if he is home for the holidays. I do believe it'd be good for him to start associating more with his own kind, rather than the lowly company he has chosen to keep as of late.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

-**Z**-

The owlery was quiet, empty, though it wasn't as if he had expected it to be overcrowded with pupils. They'd been back for 2 days, and nobody would usually start sending out post quite this early on in the year. The first years, perhaps, though at this stage he'd be surprised if any of them knew their way here.

Startled, he turned as he heard a twig snap. Somebody was in here.

"Who's there?" He demanded, slowly lowering his arm to retrieve his wand from his pocket. He heard another twig snapping under someones footsteps and realized the sound he'd heard had come from a completely different direction. In a place this big it was easy to get confused. He turned and found himself face to face with another. Taking a step back, he began to feel nervous, though tried not to show it in his expression nor his tone. His body language said it all though.

"What do you want?"


End file.
